Selena Caltabiano may not be a household name yet, but she is hoping to one day make a splash in the United States, as a singer and actress.

“My ultimate goal is to work and move to America,” Selena said in a recent Skype interview with StayFamous.Net.

In the mean time, the 19-year-old entertainer’s fanbase is quickly growing in her native home of Australia, where she will appear in an upcoming episode of the popular soap opera Neighbors.

Originally from Townsville, Selena moved to Brisbane and eventually settled in the Gold Coast area of Queensland, which is known for its Hollywood connections. Many feature films, including The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Aquamarine, Peter Pan and Driven were filmed there.

“I was fortunate enough to do acting classes at Warner Bros., while the filming [of Narnia] was going on,” Selena said. “So I got to walk past the sets… that was really fun.”

Since she was a child, Selena has studied acting and developed her on-camera skills, which include a range of Australian, British and American accents.

“I’ve been acting since I was about 8 years old,” Selena said. “That’s when I booked my first commercial and that’s when I got into the whole thing of being on set.”

Although she can’t pinpoint the exact moment when she knew she wanted to become an actress, she says, “I think it had something to do with watching cartoons when I was younger, like all of the Disney princesses… I like getting out of my own head and going into a different character.”

Her latest television gig came about when she auditioned for the soap opera Neighbors.

“My agent sent me for the role, to the casting director and they asked to see me. I flew to Melbourne – that’s where it’s filmed,” Selena said. “I got a call a couple of days later and they said, ‘We want you back for the role.’ I got really excited and I screamed!”

The entertainment industry in Australia may not be as big as it is in Hollywood, but the limited number of roles for Australian actresses is not stopping Selena from pursuing opportunities abroad.

“There are some casting directors who specifically ask for Australian actors,” she explained. “They’ll send me the script and I’ll send in a self-take. And you go and film in front of a blank wall and you do the scene with a reader and then you send it in.”

Ultimately, whether it is in TV or film, she is hoping to land a role that challenges her to step outside of her normally polite, down-to-earth demeanor.

“I’d love to play a role that is really different to me,” Selena said. “Apart from acting and singing, I’m very quiet and very reserved and to myself… So I’d love to play the bad girl or something like that.”

Of course, acting isn’t Selena’s only passion. For the past year, she has also been focusing on her singing career. During one of her trips to Nashville, Tennessee, she collaborated with rapper Swisha Man Slim on the song “Gimme That Good Thing.” She also filmed a music video for the song “First and Last Time.”

“I’m not the best songwriter….but I give ideas for songs,” Selena said. “The words are in my head sometimes, but I can never get them out into lyrics. So I’ll usually say some type of story to a songwriter, if I’m working with one, and then they’ll put my story into a song.”

In addition to focusing on her music career, Selena plans to continue her weekly acting classes and going on auditions. She also said, “I’m hoping to record a few more songs and maybe another music video.”

To keep up with the latest news about Selena Caltabiano follow her on Twitter @ItsSelena1. You can also subscribe to her YouTube Channel (click here) to watch more of her music videos and her personal vlog channel (click here). For booking information, Selena is represented by Gina Stoj Management.

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